John Chrysostom, On the Obscurity of Prophecies

by how much more grievous it makes the sting. Not for this reason alone will the accuser be deprived of pardon, but because he has neither a just nor an unjust pretext to give for his own wickedness. For other sins, even if they have irrational causes, nevertheless have them; for example, the fornicator fulfills a desire, the thief alleviates his poverty, the murderer satisfies his anger; the accuser has no pretext to offer. For what abundance of wealth, tell me, does he gain? What desire does he fulfill? It is nothing else but a matter of envy, having neither a just nor an unjust cause. For this reason he is deprived of all pardon. Do you wish to speak evil? I give you a useful subject. Do you wish to speak ill? Speak ill of your own sins. For, he says, 'Declare your sins first, that you may be justified.' Have you seen an evil-speaking that has a crown and praise and righteousness? Again, 'A righteous man is the accuser of himself in the first telling'; of himself, not of another. If you become an accuser of another, you are punished; if of yourself, you are crowned. And that you may learn how good it is to accuse one’s own transgression, 'A righteous man,' he says, 'is the accuser of himself in the first telling.' And yet if he is righteous, how is he an accuser? If an accuser, how is he righteous? The righteous man is not liable to accusation. But that you may learn that even if someone is a sinner, yet accuses his own sins, through the accusation he becomes righteous, for this reason he said, 'A righteous man is the accuser of himself in the first telling.' But what is, 'In the first telling'? Pay close attention. In the courts there are two parties, the plaintiffs and the defendants; the accusers and the accused; the liable and the not liable; and the first speech is given to the accuser, the one who is not liable. But here it is the opposite. You, the liable one, seize the first speech, so that you may become not liable; do not wait for the accuser. Even if you are among the liable, yet before you hear any such thing from him, accuse yourself of your sins. The tongue is a sharpened sword; but let us not inflict wounds on others, but let us cut away our own corruptions. Do you want to learn that it was the custom of the righteous not to speak ill of others, but of themselves? Hear Paul crying out: 'I thank Christ who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, who was formerly a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and a violent man.' Do you see how he speaks ill of himself? And again, 'Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.' And again elsewhere, 'I am not worthy,' he says, 'to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.' 9. Have you seen how everywhere he speaks ill of himself? For he knows the profit of this accusation, that it works righteousness. When, therefore, it is necessary to accuse himself, 56.189 he uses the accusation unsparingly; but when he sees others judging the evils of others, see with what great severity he silences them, saying thus: 'Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.' Reserve the judgment for Him, for the one who knows the secrets of the mind. Even if you think you know precisely the affairs of your neighbor, your judgment is mistaken. For 'what man,' he says, 'knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?' How many of the outcast and lowly are destined to shine more brightly than the sun! How many of the great and illustrious will be found to be ashes and a whitewashed tomb! Have you heard how Paul speaks ill of himself, with vehemence and exaggeration of sins for which he was not going to be held accountable, constantly remembering them? For he was a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man before his baptism, but baptism absolved those sins; but nevertheless he remembers them, not because he was going to give an account for them, but that he might show the loving-kindness of God, and what he was, and what he made him to be, from

ὅσον χαλεπώτερον ἐντίθησι τὸ δῆγμα. Οὐ διὰ τοῦτο δὲ μόνον ἐκπεσεῖται συγγνώμης ὁ κατηγορῶν, ἀλλ' ὅτι οὔτε δικαίαν οὔτε ἄδικον ἔχει πρόφασιν εἰπεῖν τῆς πονηρίας τῆς ἑαυτοῦ. Αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλαι ἁμαρτίαι κἂν ἀλόγους ἔχωσιν αἰτίας, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἔχουσιν· οἷον, ὁ πόρνος ἐπιθυμίαν πληροῖ, ὁ κλέπτης τὴν πενίαν λύει, ἀνδροφόνος τὸν θυμὸν παύει· ὁ κατηγορῶν οὐδεμίαν ἔχει πρόφασιν εἰπεῖν. Ποίαν γὰρ, εἰπέ μοι, χρημάτων περιουσίαν περιβάλλεται; ποίαν ἐπιθυμίαν πληροῖ; Οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἢ βασκανίας ὑπόθεσις, οὔτε δικαίαν οὔτε ἄδικον ἔχουσα αἰτίαν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀπεστέρηται συγγνώμης ἁπάσης. Βούλει κακηγορεῖν; ∆ίδωμί σοι χρησίμην ὑπόθεσιν. Βούλει κακῶς λέγειν; Εἰπὲ τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου κακῶς. Λέγε γὰρ σὺ, φησὶ, τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου πρῶτος, ἵνα δικαιωθῇς. Εἶδες κακηγορίαν στέφανον ἔχουσαν καὶ ἐγκώμιον καὶ δικαιοσύνην; Πάλιν, ∆ίκαιος ἑαυτοῦ κατήγορος ἐν πρωτολογίᾳ· ἑαυτοῦ, οὐκ ἄλλου. Ἐὰν ἄλλου κατήγορος γένῃ, ἐκολάσθης· ἐὰν ἑαυτοῦ, ἐστεφανώθης. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς πόσον ἐστὶ καλὸν τὸ κατηγορεῖν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ παράπτωμα, ∆ίκαιος ἑαυτοῦ κατήγορος ἐν πρωτολογίᾳ, φησί. Καὶ μὴν εἰ δίκαιος, πῶς κατήγορος; εἰ κατήγορος, πῶς δίκαιος; Ὁ δίκαιος οὐκ ἔστι κατηγορίας ὑπεύθυνος. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι κἂν ἁμαρτωλὸς ᾖ τις, κατηγορῇ δὲ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, διὰ τῆς κατηγορίας δίκαιος γίνεται, διὰ τοῦτο εἶπε, ∆ίκαιος ἑαυτοῦ κατήγορος ἐν πρωτολογίᾳ. Τί δέ ἐστιν, Ἐν πρωτολογίᾳ; Πρόσεχε ἀκριβῶς· Ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις δύο μέρη ἐστὶ, τῶν μὲν ἐναγόντων, τῶν δὲ ἐναγομένων· τῶν μὲν κατηγορούντων, τῶν δὲ κατηγορουμένων· τῶν μὲν ὑπευθύνων, τῶν δὲ ἀνευθύνων· καὶ ἡ πρωτολογία τῷ κατηγόρῳ δίδοται, τῷ ἀνευθύνῳ. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ τοὐναντίον. Σὺ ὁ ὑπεύθυνος ἅρπασον τὴν πρωτολογίαν, ἵνα ἀνεύθυνος γένῃ· μὴ ἀναμείνῃς τὸν κατήγορον. Εἰ καὶ τῶν ὑπευθύνων εἶ, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἢ παρ' ἐκείνου τι τοιοῦτον ἀκούσῃς, αὐτὸς κατηγόρησον τῶν ἡμαρτημένων. Μάχαιρά ἐστιν ἡ γλῶσσα ἠκονημένη· ἀλλὰ μὴ ἑτέροις ἐπάγωμεν τραύματα, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἡμετέρας σηπεδόνας ἀποτέμνωμεν. Βούλει μαθεῖν ὅτι ἔθος ἦν τοῖς δικαίοις μὴ ἄλλους κακῶς λέγειν, ἀλλ' ἑαυτούς; Ἄκουσον τοῦ Παύλου βοῶντος· Χάριν ἔχω ἐνδυναμώσαντί με Χριστῷ, ὅτι πιστόν με ἡγήσατο θέμενος εἰς διακονίαν, τὸν πρότερον βλάσφημον ὄντα, καὶ διώκτην, καὶ ὑβριστήν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἑαυτὸν κακῶς λέγει; Καὶ πάλιν, Χριστὸς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι, ὧν πρῶτός εἰμι ἐγώ. Καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ, Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς, φησὶ, καλεῖσθαι ἀπόστολος, διότι ἐδίωξα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. θʹ. Εἶδες πῶς πανταχοῦ ἑαυτὸν κακῶς λέγει; Οἶδε γὰρ τῆς κατηγορίας ταύτης τὸ κέρδος, ὅτι δικαιοσύνην ἐργάζεται. Ὅταν μὲν οὖν αὐτὸν ἑαυτοῦ κατηγορεῖν 56.189 δέῃ, ἀφειδῶς κέχρηται τῇ κατηγορίᾳ· ὅταν δὲ καὶ ἑτέρους ἴδῃ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις δικάζοντας κακοῖς, ὅρα μεθ' ὅσης αὐτοὺς ἐπιστομίζει τῆς αὐστηρότητος, οὑτωσὶ λέγων· Ὥστε μὴ πρὸ καιροῦ τι κρίνετε, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ Κύριος, ὃς καὶ φωτίσει τὰ κρυπτὰ τοῦ σκότους, καὶ φανερώσει τὰς βουλὰς τῶν καρδιῶν. Ἐκείνῳ τήρησον τὸ δικαστήριον, τῷ τὰ ἀπόῤῥητα εἰδότι τῆς διανοίας. Κἂν ἀκριβῶς νομίζῃς εἰδέναι τὰ τοῦ πλησίον, ἔσφαλταί σου ἡ κρίσις. Τίς γὰρ οἶδε, φησὶ, τὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ; Πόσοι τῶν ἀπεῤῥιμμένων καὶ εὐτελῶν ἡλίου φαιδρότερον ἐκλάμπειν ἔχουσι! πόσοι τῶν μεγάλων καὶ περιφανῶν σποδὸς ὄντες καὶ τάφος κεκονιαμένος εὑρεθήσονται! Ἤκουσας πῶς ὁ Παῦλος ἑαυτὸν κακῶς λέγει, μετὰ σφοδρότητος καὶ ὑπερβολῆς ἁμαρτημάτων, ὧν οὐκ ἔμελλεν εὐθύνας ὑπέχειν, συνεχῶς μεμνημένον; Βλάσφημος γὰρ καὶ διώκτης καὶ ὑβριστὴς πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἦν, ἐκεῖνα δὲ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἔλυσε τὸ βάπτισμα· ἀλλ' ὅμως αὐτῶν μέμνηται, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ λόγον ἔμελλεν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ὑπέχειν, ἀλλ' ἵνα δείξῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν, καὶ τίνα ὄντα, οἷον κατεσκεύασεν, ἀπὸ